Storage systems frequently use data redundancy mechanisms to ensure data integrity, fault-tolerance, and availability. One approach to data redundancy involves copying or replicating changes made to data stored on a primary storage system to a backup (and often remote) storage system. Replicating data in this manner may prevent downtime and/or data loss in the event of hardware failures and/or disasters.
Unfortunately, traditional replication methods often provide inefficient means for adding active volumes to an existing replication configuration. For example, because a volume to be added may be in active use by an application, adding a copy of the active volume to the replication configuration may require offlining the application to perform an initial block-level synchronization of the active volume to the backup storage system to ensure data consistency. This initial block-level synchronization can be time-consuming and tedious, potentially consuming extra network bandwidth and computing resources on the primary storage system and increasing the time in which the replication configuration remains inconsistent.
The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies a need for improved systems and methods for adding active volumes to existing replication configurations.